A common diabetes medication, metformin, might help treat a serious eye condition called age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which affects millions of older adults.
AMD is a leading cause of vision loss in people over 50 in the U.S., with around 11 million people affected, and that number is expected to double by 2050 due to an aging population.
AMD impacts the central part of vision, making tasks like reading and recognizing faces difficult.
There are two types of AMD: dry AMD, which is more common and causes slow vision loss, and wet AMD, which is less common but leads to more severe vision problems.
While there are some treatments to slow the progression of wet AMD, there is no cure for dry AMD, and vision loss cannot be reversed once it reaches advanced stages.
Because of its connection to aging, researchers have started looking into metformin, a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes, for its potential anti-aging benefits.
Diabetic patients taking metformin have shown lower rates of age-related diseases like heart disease and cognitive decline, which led scientists to wonder if it could also help prevent vision loss from AMD.
Dr. Dimitra Skondra, a professor of ophthalmology at the University of Chicago, has been studying this possibility.
Her research, using data from health insurance records, found that people taking metformin had a lower risk of developing AMD.
In a recent study, metformin also appeared to reduce the risk of both wet and dry AMD, and a follow-up study showed it could help prevent the more advanced form of dry AMD called geographic atrophy (GA), which causes significant vision loss.
Although it’s not clear exactly how metformin works to protect against AMD, researchers believe it might help reduce inflammation and improve cell function. There’s even evidence that metformin may improve the gut microbiome, which could play a role in preventing AMD.
These findings suggest that metformin could offer a safe, affordable, and noninvasive option for treating AMD. Dr. Skondra is hopeful that future clinical trials will confirm the benefits of metformin for people at risk of this vision-threatening disease.
This could have a huge impact, helping many older adults maintain their quality of life as they age.
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